an introduction to william shakespeare, the globe, and ......william and anne have three children...
TRANSCRIPT
An Introduction to William Shakespeare, The Globe, and Romeo
and Juliet
Credit to some images from: Ms. Forsyth and Mr. Bernstein
April 23, 1564: William Shakespeare was born in
Stratford-UPon-Avon to John and Mary. few written
records exist. He was the 3 rd of 8 children.
Much of Shakespeare’s younger years
remain a mystery, but there are rumors
about what jobs he may have worked.
Butcher Apprentice
Lawyer
Schoolmaster Lawyer
1582: According to church records,
Shakespeare married Anne Hathaway.
At the time of their marriage, William
was eighteen and Anne was twenty-
six.
William and Anne have three
children together (Susanna,
Hamnet, and Judith).
August 1596: young
Hamnet died at the
age of eleven. The
cause of his death is
unknown.
HamnetJudith
Susanna
Shakespeare left his family by
1590 to pursue writing in London.
In 1592, Shakespeare began developing a reputation as an
actor and playwright.
As theatres were beginning to
grow in popularity, it is
probable that Shakespeare
began earning a living writing
plays (adapting old ones and
working with others on new
ones).
1594: William became involved with a company of actors
named “The Lord Chamberlain’s Men.” This group later (1603)
changed their name to “The King’s Men”.
In 1598, Shakespeare, in collaboration with
other actors, designed and built The Globe
Theater.
This circular theatre was the first of
its kind, breaking away from the
traditional rectangular theatres.
1612: Shakespeare moved back to Stratford
where he retired both rich and famous.
1616: William Shakespeare dies on his birthday.
At the time of his death, Shakespeare is said to have written
around 37 plays and 154 sonnets. He is also known to have
contributed over two thousand words to the English language.
Sniffledorfen
Here is what’s written on Shakespeare’s headstone:
Good frend for Jesus sake forbeare
To digg the dust encloasedheare
Bleste be ye man [that] spares thes stones
And curst be he that moves my bones.
Which do you prefer?
Or…..
Shakespearean Theater “The Globe”
Romeo,
Romeo…Where
for art thou
Romeo?
Elizabethan Theatre Fun Facts
The First Elizabethan Theater: “The Wooden O”
Built in 1576, first permanent stage in London
Built by James Burbage
Shaped in form of a tavern
1599 theatre torn down, but Shakespeare’s company
used it to build The Globe Theatre
Elizabethan Theatre Fun FactsThe Globe
Round/polygonal building with a roofless courtyard
No artificial light
Three stories high – upper levels were for the weathy
The “groundlings” paid a penny a piece to stand on the floor in front
of the stage (800 people)
Large platform stage
Back of platform was curtained off inner stage
Two door entrances/exits on either side of curtain
Small balcony/upper stage
Elaborate costumes but no props
Young boys played the parts of women; women weren’t allowed to be
actors
Fire and Rediscovery
Shakespeare’s Globe burned down, but its foundation was discovered in 1990. It gave us many clues to the Elizabethan experience such as hazelnut shells! A replica has since been rebuilt. You can visit it and see a play today.
https://www.english.cam.ac.uk/converse/movies/
sound_globe.swf
Actors and Actresses• In Shakespeare’s time, it was considered immoral for a woman to appear onstage. So the female roles in Shakespeare’s plays were performed by young men.
Queen Elizabeth I
Context•The time period in which Shakespeare lived—Elizabethan England, named for the queen—influenced the content of his plays as well as the way in which they were performed.
•Elizabethans believed the earth was flat.
The Four Humors•In Elizabethan times, people believed that a person’s mental, physical, and emotional state were determined by the balance of the four “humors” in the body: blood, yellow bile, phlegm and black bile. They believed the humors gave off vapors that affected the brain, so whatever humor dominated would determine your personality type.
Marriage
•In Shakespeare’s day, marriages were generally contracts set up by the parents.
•When Juliet’s parents arrange a marriage for her, it seems strange to us; Shakespeare’s audience would have thought it was completely normal.
Tragedy
•Shakespeare’s tragedies also follow a pattern that would have made sense to his audience.
•Elizabethans believed that people’s decisions and mistakes always had consequences, and that people sometimes had to pay a high price for their mistakes.
•In Shakespeare’s tragedies, the main characters make decisions that upset the proper order of their world and so affect them and everyone around them. The situation is resolved only when others learn lessons from the main characters’ deaths.
Why we read…• So why do we still read plays like Romeo and Juliet? When
Shakespeare’s world was so different from ours, what can we learn from his plays?
• Well, the plays are not only great, powerful stories—they also teach lessons about life that apply to people in all cultures and time periods, and those lessons can help us when we come across hard times in our own lives.
Keep in Mind:
• Don’t be alarmed by the old-fashioned language: this is really a play about people who are a lot like us, and the difficult words, when you look at them carefully, express emotions anyone can understand.
•And remember, the play is POETRY: it’s not supposed to be written exactly the way people talk. The poetry is part of what makes it beautiful and powerful—and worth reading.
Reading the Play
• Shakespeare’s plays were meant to be performed—they were some of the most popular entertainment of their time. So when we read the play, the point is to try and imagine it happening onstage!
Two things to know:
• Sometimes a character will give a long speech all by herself, revealing her secret thoughts to the audience: this is called a soliloquy.
• Sometimes a character will just make a brief comment to the audience that the other characters don’t hear; this is called an aside.
Because of the minimal props and scenery, the action in Shakespeare’s plays hadto be conveyed through words and conversations. A conversation betweencharacters is called DIALOGUE.
So Who’s Who Here?
Shakespeare’s plays can have LOTS of characters. Let’s try to get them straight in our minds…
First of all, all of the characters in
Romeo and Juliet
are arranged around a central conflict between two rival families: the
Montagues and the
Capulets.
The Peacemakers:
The Prince of Verona:
• This ruler tries to mediate between the feuding families.
• He is pretty tired of all the bloodshed caused by their “ancient grudge.”
Friar Lawrence:• This religious leader is respected as a
holy man by both sides, and would like to see them reconciled.
• As a friar, he’s interested not only in religion, but also in medicinal herbs—which becomes important later.
And finally…
One other “character”:
The ChorusThe Chorus is not a part of the action, but a speaker who comes onstage to make comments on the action. The Chorus is kind of like a TV announcer in contemporary life—as far as the characters know, the chorus doesn’t exist, but he helps explain things to us.
FIN